Preserving Your Christmas Tree

Yesterday, Washington State University's Dr. Gary Chastagner gave tips on selecting your Christmas tree. Today we'll learn about taking care of your Christmas tree once it arrives at your home.

Dr. Gary Chastagner says that really all your tree needs is water on a regular basis.

Chastagner: "The most important thing for the consumer to do once they've selected the tree is once they get it home is that the freshly cut base of the tree is placed in a container holding water. Most people don't realize how much water trees need. In general, you'll need a water holding stand that will hold one quart of water per inch of stem diameter. So if you had a tree with a four-inch diameter stem you would need a water holding stand that would hold at least one gallon of water. Water alone is the main thing you need to add -- you don't need to add any preservatives as they don't actually improve the utilization of the water by the tree."

That may be contrary to what you might have heard or been told about preserving your tree, but Chastagner says

Chastagner: "But a lot of research has been done on Christmas trees and have shown that preservatives and the temperature of water really don't improve the uptake and maintenance of moisture by trees when they are displayed with water alone."